The Slytherpuffleclaws
by Aeslech
Summary: They did not remain friends forever, nothing can last that long, but in the time they had they broke the mould formed by thousands of years of tradition and united the Hogwarts houses. Terry Boot, Daphne Greengrass, Zacharius Smith, and a mystery lion.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did I would live in England and be ridiculously rich. I do however adore side characters. They need the love too you know.

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Chapter 1- Of First Meetings and Train Rides

Kings cross station was packed with people milling about and rushing to catch their trains. Men in suits and large families with screaming children went about their morning business and through all this a small eleven year old girl dressed smartly in a blouse and pleated skirt strode to her destination pushing ahead of her a trolley with a large trunk and a caged bard owl. She was followed by a tall willowy woman and another girl of about nine years who shared the same light brown hair and sharp grey eyes.

"What is the platform number Daphne? Where are we going?" The younger girl was bouncing on the balls of her feet gazing in wonder at the muggle world around her.

Daphne looked down at her little sister in despair. "Don't be foolish Astoria. You know the platform number is 9 ¾ as well as I do."

"Here it is." Daphne's mother broke what was sure to be an oncoming argument. "Through the barrier now, we haven't any time to waste. I need to get you onto the train and then take your sister to her dance class so we won't be able to stay until the train leaves."

Not looking at her mother Daphne simply nodded her acceptance and walked briskly through the barrier. On the other side she stopped to stare in wonder at the scene before her. Kings cross had been crowed to be sure but not in the same way. Everywhere she looked there were other students, young witches and wizards preparing to board the great scarlet steam engine that dominated the view.

"Don't stand there gaping like a muggle Daphne, you're blocking the entrance. And shut your mouth, you are a Greengrass start acting like it."

With that her mother strode into the melee of families and began to search for an empty compartment. Daphne followed close behind scrutinizing the faces of the other students as she passed. She had plans for her Hogwarts years but first she would need to find some companions who would suit her. Her father had told her several times that the associates she made at Hogwarts would aid her later in life and that she should choose carefully who she would be seen with. At the moment though, Daphne was only hoping to find some people that she could stand for an entire train ride.

Her mother quickly found an empty compartment and after a short speech on propriety and a promise to send her owl with the news of her sorting straight away, Daphne was left alone to wait until the train departed.

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Terry Boot was, according to many (mostly teachers and parents), utterly hopeless. He did not concentrate on anything and could not explain the strange things that constantly happened around him. In all, the boy was a basket case who would not amount to much in this world. At the moment however Terry Boot was a boy who was running late on leaving for a very different world. His father had dropped him at the station on the way to work and now all he had to do was find this platform that would take him away from this life of mockery and cruelty.

Stopping between platforms nine and ten to catch his breath, Terry watched curiously as a large family of redheads and one boy with black hair vanished through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. He rubbed at his eyes. It couldn't have been a trick; the family was defiantly going through the wall with purpose. Heck two of the younger ones _ran_ into the wall. Shrugging his thin shoulders Terry decided to go for it, there wasn't much to lose either way, and he had already seen an entire alleyway hidden behind a dirty pub. Closing his eyes tightly he gave his trolley a great shove and found himself gaping at a scarlet steam engine and a platform full of students.

With much difficulty he heaved his trunk onto the train and started off down the hallway for an empty compartment. Most of the compartments had groups of people already in them, and most of them seemed to know each other. Terry grimaced slightly; perhaps there weren't many students like him coming from a completely non magical family. What had the man who had given him the letter called it? Muggle? Yes that was it. He passed a compartment that was empty save for the black haired boy he had followed onto the platform along with the red haired family, but he was staring intently out the window and Terry was beginning to feel like he didn't really want to sit with any of these kids after all. Surely the loud redheaded family would be by soon to sit with the boy. That was not something Terry wanted to be caught in the middle of.

He had nearly made it to the end of the train before he found a compartment that had only a lone girl with her nose buried in a well worn paperback novel. Terry brightened instantly; surely this girl would have no objection to him sitting in here. He stood there for several awkward minutes before realizing that she was not about to look up and cleared his throat.

Daphne was startled out of her book by someone clearing their throat at her compartment entrance. Quickly she set her book to the side with the cover down, it was a muggle book she had found by chance and was certainly forbidden from reading. Looking over the boy standing awkwardly in her doorway Daphne concluded he was a muggle born and thus there was no real danger of him telling her mother. Abruptly she realized that she was staring and he must want something, "Yes, can I help you?"

Terry shifted uneasily in the doorway as the girl in the cabin looked him over and then rather coldly asked what he wanted. He shifted his grip on his trunk handle, this was looking more and more like a bad idea. Biting his lip he asked "well I was wondering... if no one else is coming that is... if maybe Icouldsitwithyou?"

The poor girl looked utterly confused, but asked in a softer tone than her previous. "Sorry I didn't catch that. What was it?"

"Could I sit with you?" Terry was by this time utterly exasperated with himself. _Way to make friends in your new world Terry._

Daphne cocked her head to one side considering the boy before her; he was short and tanned in a way that said he had mixed ancestry at least a few generations back. His hair was dark and messy sitting atop his head like a mop. This was a boy who her mother would never approve of her consorting with, and yet there was something there. Something about this boy was endearing, perhaps he would even offer a conversation worth having. Finally she smiled at him "sure you can. Take a seat."

He lit up immediately and dragged his trunk in from the corridor. Plopping down in the seat across from her he offered his hand. "Terry Boot pleased to meet you." _A friend!_

"Daphne Greengrass pleasures mine really. I was thinking I may have to ride the whole way to Hogwarts all by myself. Amazing really, that I managed to hold a compartment all to myself so long."

They settled into conversation quickly after that. Daphne explained everything she could about the wizarding world to her eager new friend. School houses, classes, quidditch, and even an amount of potions she could handle, but the depths of Terry's questions were quickly outweighing Daphne's knowledge.

"I don't know how the wand chooses the wizard Terry, it just does."

"But why does it. There has to be a reason, things don't just happen."

In the middle of a discussion on the finer points of wand choices, (Daphne was unsure as to how this conversation had come about as last she knew they were discussing the novel she had been reading.) the compartment door opened once more and a tall blond boy already dressed in his school robes strode in. Zacharius Smith had grown bored with the occupants of his previous compartment and to their relief had left to find more interesting first years.

"Can I help you?" Daphne was irritated by this interruption. She may not have been able to answer most of Terry's questions, but the conversation itself was enlightening. Terry was much better company than any of the pureblood girls and boys she had had forced upon her by her mother. This boy had barged in on the first enjoyable time she had ever had with a person her own age. That would not stand.

"Terribly sorry to intrude" His tone made it obvious that he was anything but. "Unfortunately the people on this train make for terrible company so far and I was hoping for something better in here."

"Well unfortunately for you..."

"Welcome in! Maybe _you_ can enlighten me as to why a wand chooses the wizard."

Daphne looked aghast at Terry, but good breeding kept her from immediately retracting the invite and shooing the blond from her compartment. Instead she settled in and waited for his response to the muggleborns question of wizarding logic.

"They just do."

Terry sighed dramatically. "That's what Daphne said. You don't mean to tell me that no wizard or witch has ever questioned this? I mean is it compatible strains of magic? Is it biological maybe?"

Zacharias stared at Terry for a moment before deciding that the boy was talking to himself or asking rhetorical questions and taking a seat next to Daphne. She snorted quietly, already having become accustomed to Terry's strange ramblings. Holding out her hand she said, "My names Daphne Greengrass. That loon over there is Terry Boot. He may or may not grow on you over the course of the train ride."

"Zacharias Smith, and so far it's better in here than any of the other compartments so I'm sure he'll have plenty of time to do so." And so Zacharias Smith took her hand. Terry beamed from across the compartment, "and now we're a trio! Three is an excellent number to be you know."

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I am aware that only three of the Hogwarts houses are represented here. Don't worry I have plans for a Gryffindor addition but he won't show up until fourth/fifth year.

Reading is nice Reviews are nicer


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing because if I did Fred would not be dead and Terry Boot or Stephen Cornfoot would be the main character of Harry Potter. Also I would be in England instead of Canada and be super rich and start all kinds of charity organizations.

Chapter Two- Train Rides and The Trouble with Sortings

About halfway through the train ride the trio was interrupted by the witch with the snack cart. At this point Terry began a new slew of questions revolving around wizarding food. Which then lead into a question on why it was always wizarding and not witching? Zacharias and Daphne had by this point resigned themselves to the fact that they could only answer a nominal amount of Terrys questions. A fair amount of time was given to educating Daphne on the muggle world as well. Zacharias although pureblood was raised in a non magical community in Scotland. He could make the easy comparisons the two needed to understand what the other was talking about.

Finally Daphne broached the subject that was on every first years mind. "What house do you suppose we'll be sorted into?" Zacharias grinned "Terry is a shoe in for Ravenclaw. There's no way he can go anywhere else."

"Ravenclaw?" Terry pondered the idea for a minute. "Yes Ravenclaw seems the most fitting for me. You both know a lot of stuff, think you'll join me?"

Daphne and Zach exchanged significant glances. Zach was the first to answer "well my family has been in Hufflepuff for generations. Like a ridiculous amount of generations. Its tradition, plus I like to think I'm pretty hard working."

"My family is expecting Slytherin but I'm sure they would have no problem with Ravenclaw. I suppose I'll leave it up to whoever is in charge of choosing," Daphne grinned at Terry "and see how it goes."

"You don't know how we're sorted?"

Zach shot him a look. "You're not supposed to know how the sorting works. It's part of the 'fun' of first year apparently." Daphne giggled.

"Most families try to keep the nature of the sorting secret," she explained. "Personal qualities are judged somehow and first years are sorted accordingly."

Terry frowned, "but that's stupid. I highly doubt I will be the same person when I'm seventeen that I am now. Granted the likely hood of me being classified as a 'ravenclaw' the way they've been described for my seven years is high. But what if I don't like my housemates, or my dorm, or my classes!"

Forcing back a grin Daphne put a comforting hand on Terry's arm. "Well you can't really have a resorting can you? And if you don't like your housemates then you're just going to have to come find me and Zach, aren't you?"

"Plus in third year you get to pick extra classes" Zach added.

Daphne checked her watch. "Oh we're almost there! We had better get into our school robes." She looked at the two boys sharing the train compartment with her. "Alright out. You two wait in the hall while I change then you can come back in and I'll wait in the hall."

"Why do you get to change first?"

Daphne grinned, "Because it's my plan and I'm the girl."

Zach dragged Terry out into the hall grumbling all the way about how he was sure this would become a thing, that he was already in his robes and she shouldn't get anything she wanted just because she was a girl.

Terry's heart soared as he stood in the hall with Zach. These two people truly wanted to be his friends didn't they? It didn't matter if he liked his housemates or not, he was going to find these two once they were in Hogwarts.

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A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."

Terry swallowed hard and fidgeted with the hem of his robes. They felt unfamiliar and slightly uncomfortable. Daphne he saw was sitting perfectly still breathing deeply. Only Zach seemed unaffected, until he tried to speak and all he managed was a squeaky strangled noise. They shoved any items hanging around the compartment into their trunks and joined the crowd jammed into the corridor.

Holding tightly to the boys wrists Daphne pulled them into the rush of students piling out on to the dark platform. Suddenly a lamp came bobbing over the sea of heads accompanied by a big hairy grinning face.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

"Oh he can`t be serious," Daphne gasped looking in the direction the giant man was gesturing. Zach squinted into the darkness, "I think he is."

Slipping and stumbling over a steep narrow path, Terry grinning the entire way, the three followed the giant man to what Zach was sure would be their doom. A chubby boy just ahead of them sniffed once or twice, other than that nobody spoke much.

"Yeh`ll get yer firs`sight o`Hogwarts in a sec," the giant called over his shoulder, ``jus round the bend here. ``

There was a group exclamation as the castle came into sight. Set atop a high mountain on the other side of a great black lake windows winking in the distance was Hogwarts castle.

"No more`n four to a boat!" The shout snapped everyone out of their trance and they hurried towards the fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Terry, Daphne, and Zach quickly grabbed a boat and were followed in by a handsome boy with dark hair and a grin that rivalled Terrys. At a shout from the giant the boats moved off all at once gliding across the lake. Everyone was silent save for Terry who immediately began mumbling to himself about weather patterns and luck. Going under a curtain of ivy the handsome boy who had joined their boat missed the warning shout and received a face full of leaves. He managed to play it off as a joke and winked at Daphne; turning her a slight shade of pink.

They reached a sort of underground harbour where they all scrambled out on to the rocks and up a passageway out onto the damp grass of the castle grounds. Crowding around the huge oak doors they waited as the giant raised a gigantic fist and knocked. The door swung open at once. Framed in the doorway stood a tall black haired witch wearing emerald robes and a stern expression.

They followed her into the massive entrance hall. Terry was attempting to figure out just how much larger it was than his family's flat in London when Daphne grabbed his arm to point out some architecture points that were similar to her family home. Daphne for her part thought this would occupy Terry for at least a few minutes before his hummingbird mind buzzed of to the next thing.

Professor McGonagall showed the first year into a small empty chamber off what Terry presumed was the main hall. They all stood rather closer than usual peering about anxiously. Except for Zach who, flanked by Daphne and Terry, had taken to glaring at people who came to near him. Daphne swatted him.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. Terry stopped paying attention to the speech at this point having gotten the idea of what would be expected from the houses from Daphne on the train. She had been exceptionally well informed on everything regarding the houses save for how they would be sorted into them. He took the time to get a good look at his soon to be classmates. The pudgy sniffing boy who had been in front of them on the path had his cloak fastened under his left ear and the red head from the platform had a large smudge of dirt on his nose. Not that he could talk really; Terry's robes were distinctly unkempt in a way that showed he had not bothered to fold them before throwing them into his trunk.

As McGonagall left the chamber Daphne whirled around and immediately attempted to smooth out his robes. "What are you doing?" he asked her.

Daphne pulled away hands on her hips, "She just told us to look presentable and frankly you look like someone tossed you down a hill." Declaring his robes a lost cause she turned from Terry and made a valiant attempt at taming the one tuft of hair that seemed determined to break away from Zach's head.

He swatted her off, "I can fix myself up. Deal with yourself."

"I don't need fixing up," she said imperiously but backed off nonetheless. It was true in fact that Daphne was in no need of the frantic last minute tidying the rest of the first years seemed embroiled in.

"How did you managed that dark trail, a boat ride, the tunnel and now these people with no sense of personal space and still not have a hair out of place?" Zach asked. She winked, "magic."

Then several people in the huddle screamed sending Daphne and a few others about a foot into the air. About twenty ghosts streamed through the walls. Terry nudged Zach in the ribs, "Are those ghosts?"

"Yes Terry."

"Real ghosts."

"Yes Terry."

"As in the ectoplasm of departed souls?"

"Yes Ter, wait _what_?"

"I'm totally gonna make friends with a ghost."

Zach stared strangely at him for a moment, "Whatever you say Terry."

"Now form a line," Professor McGonagall had returned, "and follow me."

She led the first years one by one through a pair of double doors and into the Great Hall. Terry gaped at the splendour of the room he had stepped into. It wasn't the thousands of candles casting a warm glow about the room, or glittering golden plates and goblets that had caught his attention, but the ceiling. Velvet black and dotted with stars it appeared as if the hall had no roof and was simply open to the elements. Terry's grin was threatening to split his face in half by now.

"Magic is wicked," he whispered to Daphne.

She smiled at him and pointed at the dirty patched hat that he was supposed to be paying attention to. They all stared at the hat looking sad and especially pathetic compared to the splendour of the hall. Then a rip near the brim opened and began to sing:

_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can top them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a steady mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

The school burst into applause as the song finished and the hat bowed to each table.

Terry turned to Daphne and Zach, "So we're trying on the hat and it's telling us where to go?"

"That what the hat said," Daphne whispered back. "It's much easier than I thought it would be."

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a roll of parchment. "When I call your name you will put the hat on and take a seat on the stool to be sorted. Abbott Hannah!"

Terry felt suddenly nervous. She was going alphabetically! That meant he would be sorted long before his friends.

"Boot, Terry!"

Terry jumped at his name and hurried over to the stool. He glanced back at the line and the last thing he saw was Daphne's encouraging smile before the hat was dropped unceremoniously over his eyes.

"Hello there!" said a small voice inside his ear. "Well now this shouldn't be a hard sort at all I've not seen a mind this inquisitive for near a century or two now."

Terry frowned, "A century or two is a fairly large bit of time. How could not know which one it is? Did you lose a century somewhere? Actually how do you work anyway? And don't say I just do!"

The voice chuckled, "Ravenclaw will be perfect for you my boy. As for the time discrepancy, when you've lived for a thousand years the century's tend to blend together. I'm afraid I don't have time to explain the complex patterns of magic that went into my making. There is a line of first years waiting to be sorted; you are only the third so far."

Terry nodded, "well can I ask you later?"

The hat paused. "I've never had a student ask that before," it said. "Of course you can, simply ask Professor Dumbledore to speak with me. But for now you'd best head off to RAVENCLAW!"

Terry wandered off to the table decked out in blue and bronze that had exploded into applause at the hats final shout. A few students stood up to shake hands with him as he reached the table. Finding a seat with a few empty spots next to it in case his friends made it into Ravenclaw as well he sat to watch the rest of the sorting.

Time seemed to move fairly quickly now that he had been sorted. Several students joined him at the Ravenclaw table with a smile and a welcome. Finally after a girl with bushy brown hair joined the cheering Gryffindor table it was Daphne's turn.

Daphne smiled shakily as she made her way to the hat. Exhaling deeply she perched on the stool and let the hat be dropped over her head.

"Well now what do we have here," said the small voice in her ear. "Such plans at such a young age. I know a house that could help very easily in that."

"To Slytherin then?" Daphne thought.

"That was what I was thinking. Somewhere you'd rather go?"

Surprised at the response Daphne quickly thought, "No Slytherin is perfect. If it is where I belong then shout it out and send me on my way."

"SLYTHERIN!"

With that final shout Daphne headed off to the cheering green and silver table shooting a quick smile at Terry over at Ravenclaw. She took a seat next to a girl who introduced herself as Tracey Davis and settled in for the rest of the sorting.

Zacharius grimaced at the shortening line around him. His name just had to start with an S. Suddenly the name Potter, Harry was shouted out and whispers broke out in a sudden hiss around the hall. Zach rolled his eyes; the great Harry Potter was about to be sorted, no one after would matter now. As he waited it seemed the hat was taking a long time in this sorting. _Just shout Gryffindor and be done with it you stupid hat_ Zach thought angrily. Finally the expected happened and Harry Potter trotted off to join the red and gold table which was by far the loudest of the night.

Zach was next; he strode up to the stool set the hat on his head ready to get this over with. The small voice in his ear made him jump slightly, "Well now you're a bit difficult aren't you?"

"I don't think so," Zach thought back at the hat.

"Hufflepuff is where you want to go is it? You are hard working no doubt about that. And I can find your loyalty if I search a little. Takes a lot of work for someone to get that doesn't it? You'll do well in HUFFLEPUFF!"

Finally smiling Zach sat down at the cheering yellow and black table catching Daphne's wave and Terry's pout on the way. Sitting next to the handsome boy from the boat ride who introduced himself as Stephen Cornfoot, he watched as the last student was sorted; Zabini, Blaise to Slytherin. He turned to the others that had been sorted into his house. A Slytherin and a Ravenclaw friend were all well and good but he would need to make nice in his own house to if he was going to survive the next seven years.

The night wound down with excellent food, an odd speech from the headmaster and a truly horrific song. The students all followed their house prefects off to the dorms and with a final wave from Terry the three friends went off in different directions.

Ha that was almost twice as long as the last chapter. Also Stephen Cornfoot! My favourite character after Terry. As always thanks for reading, review if you can!


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